TIP Final Debate
Transcript
Jaap Modder: Because the individualisation trends are starting to decline? How many one-person households do you think there are in Amsterdam? Jan Brouwer: Amsterdam is a forerunner in these sorts of things: individualisation there is already declining. The past few years have seen increasing occupancy, partly due to necessity, as Amsterdam is very expensive. That is proof for my previous point: the institutions are pulling back, and it therefore just becomes too expensive to live alone. Jaap Modder: Okay, so the assumption is that the trend of individualisation will not grow as was initially expected. What are the consequences of this? Jan Brouwer: The metropolis will have to organise itself differently: as one big area that constantly expands and attracts new people. This can still happen in many places
around the world, but I do not believe it will happen here. Individualisation has brought with it two things: much housing, as well as many automobiles. We currently have 8 million cars and every decade, 5 million new ones are added. For housing, this figure is 1 million new houses per decade. These are enormous amounts, and I believe this era is over. Jaap Modder: What will the consequences be for the South Wing of Randstad Holland? Jan Brouwer: The South Wing is also a forerunner. It is way ahead of any other region in the Netherlands in terms of re-use and investing in the existing urban areas. Jaap Modder: If you compare The Hague and Rotterdam, The Hague, as Marnix said, is still growing, but Rotterdam is starting to shrink. Is Rotterdam therefore not a type of Dutch Donut City? Where people are fleeing
TIP Final Debate
Transcript
outward-bound? What will this mean for Rotterdam? Jan Brouwer: Rotterdam is already shrinking, so in the next few years, you will see that those living there, that are effectively sustained by its import industry, will decline. This is already declining, and this is why Rotterdam is now shrinking. Jaap Modder: These cities want to eventually function as one metropolitan region. Marnix has already indicated that this is a matter of patience, a long term perspective. In your personal opinion, do you think a metropolitan programme is necessary? And if so, what components do you believe are necessary for it? Jan Brouwer: Necessary, necessary… in a certain sense, this is a very complex societal choice. I don’t think it is so much about people
deciding to create a metropolitan area, however: I believe the area needs to organically meet the requirements for such an area so to speak. Jaap Modder: For the past 50 years, we have been focussing on the Randstad Holland scale. In the last Minister’s documents, however, Randstad Holland wasn’t even mentioned. This concept seems to have been replaced by ‘Metropolitan Region Amsterdam’, and the South Wing. This is a break in the general trend. I personally don’t think this is so illogical: maybe this way of thinking is more promising than thinking in terms of Randstad Holland? But, if you let go of your scepticism, what do you believe still needs to happen to really make it into a metropolitan region? Jan Brouwer: It is important to think in
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